Page 78 of Sparks Still Fly

“I know what you need, Maeve. You need me to fuck you harder.” I take over again, keeping my movements fast and steady. “You need me to tell you how fucking perfect you are. You need to hear your husband say how much he loves this pussy. How fucking good it feels to know that this is forever. That we’re forever. That I’m gonna fuck you so good until my last breath. Is that what you need?”

“Yes, Owen!” Her nails dig into the skin on my shoulder, her body taut all over as she rides out her orgasm. I pump into her mercilessly, wanting her to ride it for as long as possible, and when she finally relaxes, I let myself go over the edge. Maeve holds on to me tightly, tucking her face into my neck and leaving kisses there as I groan out my release with her name on my lips. Always her name.

We stay like that for a few heartbeats, just soaking one another up, holding on through the adrenaline drop and matching one another’s slowing breaths. This is what I used to dream about when I was isolated, going without food or water for days on end. The feel of her in my arms, her breath on my skin, my heart so full it almost hurts. This is the feeling I would imagine during that dark time, but the real thing? It’s far better than anything I ever dreamed of.

She trails kisses along my jaw, and I feel the smile on her face. As I disconnect our bodies, I take off my shirt, handing it to her so she doesn’t have our mess dripping down her legs. I lean down to kiss her as I help her clean up, steadying her on her still wobbly legs.

Her eyes are on my face as I lower the hem of her dress back down, and she giggles. Looking at her with an arched brow, I silently ask what she’s laughing at.

“I don’t imagine many married couples are rushing home to have sex up against the car in the garage, do you?” With an arm still around her waist, I bring her closer so we’re nose-to-nose.

“Well, they might if they waited seven years for it.”

Those big doe eyes meet mine again, and she smiles. “You sure have a way with words, Mr. James.”

“I mean every single one, Mrs. James.” Our lips meet again in a kiss that I hope tells her that I really do mean it all. I mean every touch, look, word, everything. There was never going to be another option for me. If it wasn’t Maeve, it would be no one.

Out of due diligence, given what happened yesterday, I go into the courthouse alone while Maeve waits at the house. She spends most of that time talking to her publicist, who gave her shit for her little meltdown yesterday, but who also congratulated her for standing up for her man.

Once everything’s signed, and I’m officially Julia’s guardian, the social workers help me with the car seat I had installed in the rental. I reassure them I already have a base installed in my SUV at home, and then we’re off.

On the way to the airport, Maeve sits in the backseat with Julia, who cries almost the entire way. She must not like the car seat, or maybe just cars in general.

In the plane, she seems to settle for a few minutes, but as soon as we’re in the air, she’s crying again.

“Maybe she needs a fresh nappy?” Maeve looks over at me as I try to feed Julia a bottle she’s not interested in at all. She must see the confusion on my face because she sighs and says, “Diaper. Sorry.”

“Oh. Uh. Right. Shit. I’ve never done that before.” I look around for a place to set Julia down, but Maeve is already on it. She opens up the diaper bag and takes out a little mat that was folded in there. Then she gets a diaper and puts it down with the wipes next to it. “Great. Thanks, Maevey.”

I put Julia on the mat and start to take her zippered one-piece thing off. At least this isn’t a complicated outfit, but it’s hard to take her tiny legs out of it without feeling like I’m going to hurt her.

“Um, let me know if I can help.” Maeve stands next to me, watching everything I’m doing with curiosity and something like contentment in her eyes. “You’re doing great,” she says encouragingly.

I nod and continue to attempt to keep Julia on the mat. Her cries have quieted a bit, but she’s still unhappy. “How does this come off? Is there like a string you pull or something?” I notice the little tabs at the front and try to pull one, and the whole side comes undone. Thank fuck. I repeat the same thing on the other side and slide the diaper off. Thankfully it’s just wet. I wave it around for a second, not knowing what to do with it. Maeve takes it and rushes over to a garbage bin, but she’s back next to me in seconds.

“What’s next?” she asks. “Wipes?” She opens up the plastic container with wet wipes inside and pushes it closer to me.

“Right. Yeah. Thanks.” I take one, then another, then another and wipe down as much as I can while Julia squirms and cries. She must hate this. She must hate me by now, given how much she’s cried. “Okay, she’s good, right?”

“That’s great, Owen. You’re doing really well.” Maeve nods along beside me, every bit as clueless as I am, but damn, it’s nice to have her doing this with me. “Here’s a clean diaper.” She hands me the thing, but it looks nothing like what I just took off Julia. I’m too scared to take my hand off Julia in case she falls off or something, so I just stand there, staring at the diaper like an idiot. “Do you want me to open it up for you?” Maeve offers.

“Would you, please? I need eight more hands to do this safely.” She giggles and takes the diaper, opening it up.

“Here, you lift up her bum, and I’ll put this under her. The sticky tab things were on the back and then wrapped around the front, yeah?” Maeve looks down at the diaper in her hand, flipping it over a couple of times.

“Yeah, I think you got it.” I lift Julia’s little body, and Maeve slides the diaper underneath her. As I hold her legs, Maeve flips the other part of the diaper over her body and holds it in place while I get the sticky tabs in place. Julia is still crying when I get her little legs back into her pajamas, and I quickly scoop her up to try to soothe her again.

I let out a long breath, placing Julia on my chest and holding her there with one hand. I use my free hand to pull Maeve to me. I kiss her forehead, and when she looks up at me, I kiss her lips, just a press of our mouths together for a few seconds. “Thank you,” I whisper.

“Of course, darling. I’m here for you.” She lifts a hand, placing it over mine, which is currently splayed across Julia’s tiny back. I know at this moment that she means it. That as scared as she is, as unsure as she might be about all of this, right now, in this moment, she’s here for me. For us. Neither of us know what to do, but we work as a team, and that feels really fucking good.

43/

fatal. to my panties, that is.

maeve

We’ve made it home, and Owen has taken Julia to every room of the house, describing each one to her. His final stop is the nursery, where he walks her around to her crib, the rocking chair and changing table. I’ve never really been in this room before, but it’s clear the love that Owen has put into getting this together—with the help of his mum and sister. Once he’s finished the tour, he stands in the middle of the room looking down at her with so much love in his eyes, I feel myself teetering.

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